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Change Your Default Setting

I have been studying astrology for over 23 years now, and through the years I have developed a philosophy which I find beneficial. I would like to share that with you this week. I believe that many people who are not quite aware of themselves spiritually tend to live in what I call "default mode", meaning not being mindful of the power they possess and simply going through the motions of living. I used to live this way too, until one day I began to wake up. Astrologically speaking, this was during my Saturn Return and it meant a time for me to "grow up" and become accountable for my own actions. We each experience this in different ways, but for me, it was a deeply spiritual time and it's when I decided to stop living by default.

I discovered that my passion in astrology took on a different aspect. I saw astrology in a new light, it no longer was just a fascination with the stars and their influence on us humans. It was seeing the benefit of knowing this influence and applying it to my life in order to live a deeper, more meaningful life where I felt more in control and less at the mercy of the planets. I used to say things such as, "Oh, I acted like that because of my Leo Moon! What can I do?" but then I realized that was just my "default" setting. I realized that I had a choice to select a new setting for myself.

Because I knew of the tendency to act a certain way thanks to my natal horoscope, I was more mindful of that behavior and if I didn't like that in myself, then I could choose differently. This was eye opening for me! It is now an active decision to choose my responses rather than reacting by default. It is a constant job and I don't always succeed, though it is becoming easier and easier to choose the more I practice.

There comes a time in our lives when we are challenged with this choice - continue to live by default and be at the mercy of our surroundings, our family, the planets, what have you or to actively choose our emotions and be in control of our emotional lives. It may not come about through astrology as it did for me, but no matter what form the challenge takes, I encourage you to take it. This may be a radical step for some of us, and we may simply choose to ignore the challenge and go on living by default. But if you are feeling this challenge right now, then I encourage you to look at things differently.

When you learn to use astrology to assist you rather than let it dictate how you are going to feel, you have the advantage over those who are still in their default setting. When everyone else around you is acting crazy and childish because of a Full Moon in Aries, you can choose to stop being influenced by this. You can take an emotional step back and look at it from a different angle. After practice, it will become easier and easier to stop taking things personally and so seriously all the time. The joy of life is much easier to feel when we can do this and then we can begin to see that joy is our natural state of mind!

We have the power to choose happiness because true happiness cannot come from outside ourselves. That choice doesn't belong to anyone else, or to your surroundings or to the planets. The choice is entirely yours because only you have the power to control your emotions. So if you're living by default, then I challenge you today to change your setting and begin to actively live your life. You can feel how you choose or you can let other things tell you how you feel. The choice is yours.